Darkness of a Fading Light
by The Midnight Rust
Summary: Miroku centered darkfic. Rating upped for a bit of language and violence... 'R' is kinda too strong... But beter safe than sorry. (Chapter 3 has been removed. I'm going to rewrite it so I can correct some serious OOCness and rework some plot details.)
1. The Light Extinguished

[]My first try at fanfic. Criticism welcome, flames encouraged. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with this story yet… So if it seems that nobody would really care to hear more, I'll probably just try something else. []

[]ALSO[] Inuyasha is not my property, I'm not making money on this story, blah, blah, blah… Alright, here's the story.

Miroku frowned as tried to make sense of the sight before him through his half closed eyes. Surrounding him seemed to be a high and lofty castle, but be it night or be it day he could not tell… For an aura seemed to disguise the sky, locking it behind dark clouds of swirling energy.

            "Where am I?" he sleepily thought, "Surely not just 6 hours ago I had laid down in the forest… Unless… This is a dream? But where are all the women… This can't be one of _my_ dreams…"

            "How right you are, monk."

            "No… No! It can't be! But I know that voice." His thoughts grew more and more frantic almost in time with his actions, for at the first syllable he spun around and wildly looked for the source.

            "Naraku!" 

That was all the monk could say, his fervent cry breaking the trance-like silence, because as he spotted the short figure squatting on the roof his breath all but left him. 

            "Naraku…"

Where once had been nothing but a hazy cloud of flowing power, the magic had split, leaving a gaping tear to reveal the midnight sky… But more prominently, the gigantic blood red moon of the harvest. Now standing in front of the morbid satellite, the half-demon grinned from under the white baboon pelt he was encircled by.

            "Miroku, I have come for you… Certainly you did not think that I would let your lineage off with such a simple curse. Especially now, that you dare attempt to use it to counter my plans… No… You deserve much more then what I gave your grandfather. He was only a minor annoyance. But you… You… You block my path Miroku. I do not take obstacles kindly Miroku. Join me… Or die the death I should have shared with your grandfather."

Reclaiming his calm, Miroku cleared his mouth with a swallow and looked back at the disturbing picture. 

"Nothing you say means anything to me other than the disrespect you give to my ancestors Naraku! Despite what you say, you've dealt out more sorrow then the world should see fit to take! For this, I could never join you!"

            "Hmph… The amusement you offered to me has began to grow thin… Are you certain you wish to end up like the others who challenged me?"

It suddenly hit the young monk. Where were _his_ others? Unable to hide his panic any longer, Miroku screamed back at the featureless pelt.

            "Where are they you sick bastard?! What have you done with them?!"

            "Hah hah hah… You think me cruel and merciless… But this one mercy I will grant you: You will not hear of their fates. I fear such news would crush you… Oh yes… You couldn't offer a challenge at all if you heard about their deaths… Especially that dear, dear Sango's… Mm?"

His body a melting pot of emotion, Miroku was barely able to hold himself together as he trembled from grief, rage, and fear all at once. Gnashing his teeth together, he forced his eyes closed, trying to hide the tears he could no longer control. Sinking to one knee, he smashed his sealed hand onto the cold stone courtyard.

            "Yo-you b-bastard…I will m-make you p-pay! Stop hiding behind y-you illusions Naraku! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!"

Now smirking, Naraku raised his hand to point at the kneeling monk. With a single sharp snap, Miroku's staff appeared before him and clattered to the ground. 

            "That's what I've been waiting to hear, monk. Come, arm yourself… And loose your body through your rage."

Throwing his cloak aside, Naraku leapt from the roof, landing in a squat in front of the still-kneeling monk. Rising as one, the two men stared at each other, the overwhelming anger highlighting Miroku's face, while a sneering apathy framed Naraku. Hefting his staff without a hint of grace or strategy, Miroku suddenly rushed towards the half-demon and swung, guiding the weighted blade of his staff with only brute force.

With a speed faster than the eye, Naraku shot out his left arm to deflect the speeding blade from his head. As the two objects connected, a sickening crack shot through the courtyard… As Miroku's staff split in half over the demon's arm.

His apathetic sneer now replaced by the crazed grin of a madman, Naraku knocked the lower half of the stick away while it still hung in the air. Now following through with his right,  Naraku's palm caught the sharpened circle of the staff and jammed it forward.

            "To loose oneself to such rage is against the Buddha's will, monk. He would not have it so."

The clatter of the lower half of the staff against the uneven stones drowned out all sound in the courtyard, for as it first made impact, the splintered end held tightly by Naraku found its way through the monk's robe and into his torso. Followed by a crimson spray, of blood and gore, the upper haft shot through his body, spattering the courtyard behind him. His eyes glazed over, the monk slowly sank back to his knees, and then fell forward into a piteous slump of lost blood and pride. Tightly grasping the companion that had been with him through most of his travels, his body shuddered as a horrible cough racked his body, sending more blood to the ground below. 

He didn't feel any pain other then the initial impact, just a dull pressure on his chest and back, and as he stared an almost lifeless stare at the feet of his killer, fleeting memories of his life began to wisp by him.

The last thing he remembered before everything went black was Sango's face, smiling at him. He couldn't remember why she was smiling, or even when and where it had happened, but that didn't matter to him anymore… All he could think about was her smile.

            "San- …. San-go…….."

And with one last ragged, gasping breath, he felt his soul pass out of his body and into the darkness… And all he could feel was the darkness of a fading light.

[]Hehe… And there it is. My first try at fanfic… So what did you think? Should I bother writing more?[]

**UPDATE:** Microsoft Word ate all my extra periods (…), so I'm going to try uploading it as html. Hopefully that will fix everything.


	2. The Light Rekindled

[]Sorry for not adding more yet… It seems the only times I feel like writing are the times I should be sleeping… Ah well, here's part 2, sorry to keep y'all waiting. Questions Answered at bottom, and I still don't own Inuyasha.[]

His eyes snapped open, and with a bloodcurdling wail, the young monk shot to his feet, only to fall back to his knees a second later. With one hand tightly gripping the soft earth beneath him and his eyes now clenched shut, he tried to calm his breathing, which was ragged and short from shock. Tenderly, almost hopefully in a sense, he clutched his stomach with his free hand, and carefully ran it over his chest, trying to find his wound, or perhaps a bloody hole in his robe.

Feeling none, he slowly pried open his eyes and raised the hand in front of his face. Though the night was dim, lit only by a sliver of the coming dawn, he could still see his dark red blood dripping down his arm. With a final tortured scream, he fell to the ground and passed out.

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            Woken by the first cry, Kagome and Sango crawled out of bed and over to the center of the tiny building they had stayed the night in. Looking to Kagome, who happened to be trying to stifle a _very_ large yawn, Sango asked, "What _was_ that?"

            Still not quite awake, Kagome frowned and blinked a few times, before spitting back, "Geeze Sango, it was just a yawn! Ex_cuse_ me."

            "Not that. I heard a scream."

            "Oh…. Um… Right…. He, he… Sorry. Well, ah, where did it come from?"

            Sango paused in thought, but before she could respond, Miroku let out his second yell from just outside the small shack. This seemed to catch Kagome's attention, because before Sango could even call for Kirara, Kagome had rushed out the door clutching her bow, pausing only to yell behind her, "Come on! Let's go!"

            Nodding to herself, she bent down to wake her cat and the little fox-demon, Shippou before grabbing Hiraikotsu and rushing out the door.

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            As he stared into the mirror-like pool he was standing in, Iny-Yasha sighed. It had been another sleepless night for him, and this time he hadn't even been able to catch any fish for breakfast. Spotting a tiny movement out of the corner of his eye, he swirled around and pounced on the source. He quickly pulled it from the water, and gave a short laugh as he looked at the gasping fish.

            "Finally caught you, didn't I? Tricky little bastard… At least we'll have something to eat now."

            Still clutching the fish, he let his gaze wander to the horizon and began to wonder if it would be enough to feed them all, or if he should try for another… It wasn't _that_ big after all… His thoughts didn't continue much longer though, because not more than a minute after he caught the fish, Miroku's scream pierced the silent morning. Dropping the fish in his haste to leave, Inu-Yasha jumped out of the water and sprinted off into the forest, cursing under his breath the entire way.

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Whee, there goes part 2. Sorry it's so short, but it seems that I have to wake up in 4 hours… Anyway, I hope anyone who reads this enjoyed it. The next part should hopefully be out much quicker than this one was.

Thank you reviewers, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to post reviews.

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Questions Answered:

StDogbert – The "companion" was crappy figurative language for his staff. Hehe, I can see how that was a bit confusing… One of the drawbacks of writing at 2 in the morning I suppose.

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